Summer Lovin'
by GAisLOVE
Summary: S is a California girl that goes to the Hamptons to live with her absentee father for a summer, hoping to get to know him. While there she meets N and the rest of the UES crew. Sparks fly between S and N but N's queen B gf isn't going down without a fight


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gossip Girl.

**A/N:** Okay, so like I said, I'm starting a new story. It's an S/N AU. Serena is a California girl that goes to live with her absentee dad for the summer in the Hamptons, hoping to get to know him. While she's there she meets Nate and the rest of the UES crew. Sparks fly between Serena and Nate, but Nate's Queen B girlfriend isn't about to let some West Coast new girl take her man. I didn't exactly read through this after I was done typing it, so if there are a few mistakes in spelling or grammar here and there, I apologize.

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Chapter One - Starts with Goodbye

I had finally managed to drift off to sleep some time around four in the morning. It wasn't that I was nervous, well I mean maybe that had something to do with it, after all I hadn't actually seen him for eight years. Not to mention the fact that even when he had lived here, I still only saw him once or twice a week. Most kids remember their dad playing catch with them or teaching them how to ride their first bike. My childhood memories of him are filled with long business trips, absent birthdays, broken promises and disappointments. It wasn't that he was a bad guy, just busy. He loved his job and I could understand that. When my mother finally filed for a divorce when I was just eight years old, I understood that. When he moved away to the opposite end of the country, I tried my best to understand that. But, as the last eight years went by without a visit from him, that's the part that I didn't understand. The first four years he tried to fly out for a birthday or Christmas, but each year something 'came up'. And eventually, he just stopped trying.

I know they always say the kids aren't to blame. My mom has told me numerous times, when I could convice her to talk about him that is, that I shouldn't feel guilty, that I couldn't have changed anything. But part of me always tells me that I could have. That I could have been a better daughter. That I could have thrown one less temper tantrum. That I could have bothered him just a little less when he was working in his study. That small part of me blames myself for him leaving. Usually, I could bury that part of me. I could push it aside and convince myself that he was the only one to blame for leaving. But as I slowly got out of bed to fnish packing, I couldn't get that part of me to shut up. It's just nerves, I told myself, as I opened the bottom drawer of my nightstand for what seemed like the millionth time in the last few days. Inside was a huge pile of letters. Letters that he had sent me over the years. And even though most of them only said a few words, such as 'Happy Birthday' or 'Thinking of you', I knew it was better than hearing nothing at all. Each letter usually contained money or some expensive present from an exotic place that he had recently traveled to. Maybe it helped him feel better, send your daughter a gift to make up for not being able to see her. Maybe he really did just enjoy spending money on me. Either way, I usually just kept the gifts locked away somewhere. I couldn't be bought off. And buying me presents didn't make up for his absence.

"What if he doesn't like you?" The small voice in my head whispered. That question had been appearing more frequently in my head as it came closer and closer to the day of my departure. I'm his daughter, I would tell myself, he has to like me. Right? My thoughts were interrupted by a small knock on my door. "Come in," I said, my voice still thick with sleep. The door slowly cracked open to reveal my mother standing there in a plush baby blue robe, a cup of coffee in her hand. She had always been an early riser. Even after she had retired from work, she was always awake at the crack of dawn, either watching the sunrise or taking a walk along the beach. She was hardly ever home, even without a job, she was always off doing something for some sort committee or planning some kind of charity event. If you asked me, she didn't exactly enjoy doing it. But it was an excuse to get her out of the house. My mother didn't exactly win the mother of the year award. She had a hard time showing her emotions, and she wasn't exactly good at the whole mom thing. Sometimes I wondered if my brother and I were just a mistake, if having children was something she just got pushed into doing. She always seemed sad to me, like she'd rather be off living a different life than that of socialite millionaire. Regardless of all this, I knew she loved me and that's all I needed.

"Breakfast is downstairs if you're hungry, we still have a few hours before I need to take you to the airport," she said, leaning on my doorframe. I yawned and gave her a small smile, "I think I'll skip breakfast, I still have some packing to do and stuff." She glanced at the half empty suitcase on my floor, smiled, gave me a small nod and shut the door. I listened as she padded down the hallway and back downstairs. After she was gone and glanced around my room and let out a deep sigh. Clothes were thrown everywhere, shoes laying here and there missing the other one in the pair, if you looked you wouldn't be able to tell the color of my carpet. I still had a lot to pack and not that much time. Not that I was surprised, I always ended up doing things last minute.

Suddenly, my phone began to vibrate on the nightstand next to me. I leaned over and grabbed it, flipping it open in the process. The new text message read, "Beach, 15 minutes." I smiled, it was from Haley. We had been best friends ever since we were little girls and no matter how bad things got, I could always count on her to be there for me. I didn't know how I was going to manage with her for an entire summer.

I rolled out of bed and glanced around my room once again. I spotted a pair of jean shorts and grabbed them, quickly pulling them up my long tanned legs. I threw on a simple navy tank top and found a pair of matching sandals thrown under my bed. I ran a brush through my long blonde hair and placed it in a messy bun ontop of my head. I stuffed my phone into my back pocket and made my way downstairs.

My sandals clapped loudly off the marble floor and echoed through the rest of the house, so much for sneaking out. I quickly made my way through the living room and tried to quietly open the back door. I managed to get it halfway open before I heard a deep voice behind me. "Where are you going?" I turned around to see my most recent step-father, number three to be exact, standing a few feet away from me. His name was Stephen, but insisted on being called Steve. He was older than my mother, at least by six years or so. His sandy blonde hair had gray streaks through it and his ice blue eyes already had a few wrinkles underneath them. He was a nice enough guy, I'd give him that. But he had the tendency of trying to act much younger than he really was. I'd give him a few more years before my mother lost interest in him, poor guy.

"I was.. um.. I just wanted to see if my swim suit was hanging outside.. because you know, I need to pack it." He stared at me skeptically. "Really, so you weren't going down to the beach," he asked. I was about to give him some excuse when he interrupted me. "Don't worry, I won't tell your mother, just hurry up. She'll freak out if she finds out you left without finishing your packing." I mouthed the words 'thank you' and gave him a small smile. He winked and shooed me away with his hands. I ran out the door, not bothering to shut it, and down the stairs of my back deck which led straight onto the beach.

The warmth of the sun felt amazing on my back as I slowly made my way to the small cave where I was meeting Haley. It had been our spot ever since we were young. In the beginning it had been used as the secret location of the buried treasure when we pretended we were pirates. But over the years it had grown into a secret party spot where we could all get trashed and not have to worry about being caught. I smiled at how different we had become, and how much we had grown up in what seemed like such little time.

After about five minutes of walking, the cave came into view and I easy sprinted the rest of the way. But I stopped mid-sprint when I got close enough to realize that it definitely wasn't just Haley sitting there. Sittng around the small stones were Haley, Bridget, Peyton, Jordan and, to my surprise, Ryan. When Haley spotted me, she instantly stood up and ran at me full force. We both squealed as she crashed into me, causing us both to fall onto the ground, erupting with laughter. "Are you trying to kill me," I managed to ask her in between giggles. She looked over at me, her green eyes full of amusement. "Nah, just hurt you bad enough that you're forced to stay here for the summer." I rolled my eyes and pulled on one of her dark braided pig tails, "Hales, you'll be fine without me. It's only a few months." She pinched my arm in return. "Who the hell am I supposed to hang out with all summer? And who's gonna make fun of all the tourists with me?" "Oh I don't know, maybe Bee, or Peyt or one of the other million people we always hang out with," I replied, still rubbing my arm. She rolled her eyes and slowly stood up, offering her hand to pull me up. "You know it's not the same," she said seriously. I dusted the sand off my shorts and pulled her into a hug, "I know. Trust me, if I could you know I'd bring you with me." "Sure, sure. You'll just have to bring me back tons of presents to make it up to me and maybe I'll consider forgiving you." I playfully pushed her arm, "Spoiled brat." A smirk formed on her face and she simply shrugged her shoulders in response. We slowly made our way back up to the small cave where the others were waiting. I leaned in and whispered into Haley's ear, "What is Ryan doing here?" I could tell she was trying to contain her laughter as she repsonded, "Well you know I had to tell Jordan and then you know Jordan tells Ryan everything. So when he heard we were all coming down here to say bye to you, he said he wanted to come." "And you couldn't have said no?" "That would have been rude," she said with a smirk. "Bitch," I muttered under my breathe.

Ryan and I had dated on and off over this past school year. He was gorgeous, there was no denying that. His muscles were toned in all the right places, his dark, almost pitch black, hair was thick with curls and his piercing hazel eyes could make any girl forget her own name. So, needless to say, when a sophomore had started dating the 'It' guy of the junior class, it attracted a lot of attention. The older girls would glare at me when I walked through the hallways, and rumors about me, my friends or my family started popping up all over school. It had been hard at first, but Ryan was always so protective, standing up for me whenever he could, that he had me convinced that we could make it through all the gossip. Not to mention the fact that anytime there was an upperclassmen party, he always dragged me along with him. And after a while, Ryan's best friend had ended up falling for Haley. We were the perfect foursome. Our weekends were filled with alcohol, partying, laughing and late nights on the beach. Within just a few short months we had enough inside jokes to write a novel. At lunch all Haley would have to say was, "Remember that one night.." and we'd all erupt into laughter, causing anyone around us to stare. Things stayed that way until two weeks ago. I had always told Ryan that I wanted to wait until I thought I was ready to have sex, and he had always seemed okay with that idea, supportive even. So when a rumor started going around they he had been having sex with some senior girl, I didn't believe it. Why should I? Rumors had always been surrounding our relationship. So at a party two weekends ago, when I walked in on Ryan ontop of some bleached blonde girl half naked, you can imagine my surprise. I had stormed out, and didn't stop running until I reached the beach, even when I heard Ryan calling after me. I spent the rest of the night crying on Haley's shoulder and I had refused to talk to Ryan ever since.

When we reached the cave, I made my way over Bridget and Peyton first, hugging each of them tightly and promising to keep in touch. Next came Jordan, who captured me into a headlock and tousled my hair. "I'll miss you too loser," I managed to choke out. Jordan had become like a big brother to me. Even he had stopped talking to Ryan for a short period of time after he found out what had happened, and they had grown up together.

After Jordan finally released me, I made my way over to where Ryan was standing. We stood infront of each other awkwardly, not really sure of what to do. I crossed my arms infront of my chest and looked up at him. "So.." I started, hopeing that would give him the signal to just say whatever it was he came here to say. "Look.. I just wanted to say I'm sorry, you have no idea how.." I held my hand, stopping him. "It's fine. Really. I'm over it." Lie. Of course I wasn't over it. But he didn't need to know that. "Oh.. well, okay.. maybe we should try.." Once again, I interrupted him. "No. We shouldn't try anything. Maybe we can be friends in school next year or something. But there won't be an 'us' again." I was surpised that I was able to keep my voice from cracking and my tears from falling. He didn't bother to hide the sadness in his eyes. He quickly looked down at the ground and muttered some kind of goodbye. I was about to say something, when my phone began to vibrate in my pocket. I looked at the screen and the word _Home_ flashed back up at me. Fuck. I hesitated before deciding answering the phone would be better than her coming to look for me. "Hi mom." I held the phone away from my ear as she started to yell. "We are leaving in two hours for the airport Serena. Two hours. Your room is still a mess and your suitcase isn't even half full, are you crazy? Do you enjoy stressing me out?" I rolled my eyes before screaming, "Okay, calm down, I'm on my way home now." I snapped the phone shut. Every face around me was holding back laugther. They had all witness a famous Lily van der Woodsen freak out at one point. "Go ahead and laugh," I said with a sigh that was shortly followed with the sound of laughter echoing through the cave.

The laughter died down after few moments and silence took it's place. I took a deep breath and said good bye to everyone one more time before turning to go. I only made it a few steps before I felt Haley's hand grab my arm. I turned around to find tears falling down her face, her green eyes now smudged with makeup. I pulled her into a tight hug and reassured her that it would be alright. "Good luck with your dad S. Don't be nervous, he'll love you, it's impossible not to," she said as she pulled away from the hug, "And be good, don't do anything I wouldn't do," she added with a laugh, wiping away the makeup that had appeared under her eyes. I smiled, "Thanks Hales, I promise to call you as soon as I get there." I gave her another brief hug before I began walking back towards my house, tears were already forming, blurring my vision. I quickly blinked them away and told myself that I would be fine. It was only a few months and it was something I needed to do. I needed answers that only my father could give me. I needed to get away from Ryan and away from the bubble that I had grown up in. I needed to find myself. And I was sure that leaving was the only way to do it. Right?

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I stared out the window as the car slowly traveled down the crowded road. I had quickly made it back to my house, thrown everything into my suit case, not bothering to fold anything, said goodbye to my brother and Stephen, and then hoped into a car with my mother. I glanced over at her. She was still yelling into her cellphone, like she had been doing for the past twenty minutes. I sighed and looked at the driver, who was humming happily along with some oldies tune playing from the radio. I felt a small smile form on my face. He looked so happy and carefree, and both were things that I longed to be. I focused my attention back outside the window and let my thoughts wander. I went through the different conversations in my head that I'd want to have with my dad. I went through all the possibilities of how our first meeting would go. How he would look. What I would say.

Before I knew it the car arrived at the airport, coming to a stop outside the drop off area. The driver was already out of the car and unloading my suitcases from the trunk. I slowly stepped out the car and accepting my suit cases from him, luckily I had managed to fit everything into only three of them. My mother had finally managed to get off the phone and handed a tip to the driver. He tipped his hat to her and murmered a thank you. He handed me my final suit case and gave me a genuine smile, "Have a nice trip Miss." I returned the smile and thanked him for his help.

My mother and I made our way through the airport without speaking. Not that there was really anything to say, the silence was almost natural to us. So when my flight number was called to start boarding, I was suprised when she pulled me into a tight hug. "If you want to come home at any point, all you have to do is call." I nodded, but assured her that I'd be fine. "Take care of yourself, and say hello to your father for me," she added, before giving me a quick kiss on the forehead. I felt those stubborn tears beginning to form behind my eyes again, but this time I let them fall. "I love you mom." She gave me a smile and pulled me into another hug. "I love you too. Be good." We parted and I made my way towards the gate. I turned around to wave at my mother one last time before I boarded, but she was already walking, talking on her cell phone as she went. I shook my head, readjusted my carry-on bag on my shoulder, held my head up high and made my way onto the plane, with hopes that this summer would finally give me the answers I needed. Little did I know just how much more I would find.

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**A/N:** Okay, so that was the first chapter. Hopefully you liked it. I'll probably have the next chapter up sometime this weekend. As long as you review!


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